KNOXVILLE – Tennessee’s offense spent most of Saturday living on the edge.
The Volunteers left with a victory largely because they thrived there.
Second in the Southeastern Conference in third-down defense, Tennessee edged out a 27-24 win against South Carolina because of its offense’s ability to make a handful of plays to convert third downs.
Seven of the Vols’ nine conversions came on passes by quarterback Josh Dobbs, including five on Tennessee’s two scoring drives in the second half.
“It wasn’t just me going out there and being effective on those third downs,” Dobbs said. “I didn’t really have people in my face, and the receivers were running great routes and getting open. That really helped. It was a whole unit effort on third down, and that’s why we were so efficient.”